The Justice Department said Monday that Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, an ardent backer of President Donald Trump, had been appointed FBI co-deputy director. Bailey said he would resign as Missouri's top prosecutor to join conservative podcaster Dan Bongino in the bureau's No. 2 spot.

The move appears to diminish the authority of the current deputy director, Dan Bongino, whose tumultuous tenure has included a pitched argument over files related to the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Dan Bongino will soon be sharing duties as co-deputy director of the FBI with Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey. The appointment by Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel, which Fox News reported Monday,